sun-set

hi fellow cruisers.

Just trying to put wife's mind at rest a bit.

We are doing a 12 nighter on the celebrity solstice in late January/early February next year and my wife keeps reading horror stories about the sea conditions for our cruise. She is getting a bit paranoid about it at the moment.

Is there anyone out there that has had nice weather on this trip in January/February in years past????.

 

Regards bob.

I guess we have been lucky as we have sailed the return trip five times and I also sailed from Sydney to New Zealand on the way to Southampton in 1965.

We have had calm to reasonable seas on all crossings and have been lucky enough to visit the Sounds on all sailings.

The only time we missed any ports was once in Napier, I was talking too some friends while we were in the harbour and being pushed by tugs alongside our berth.

When I looked out again we were back at sea, the captain came on to say that even with the tugs and thrusters they could not overcome the strength of the wind to get alongside, even then the ship was not affected enough to cause problems with movement.

I hope you are lucky enough to have a calm crossing and enjoy New Zealand, a wonderful country with helpful friendly people.

What happened to the beginning of this thread with photos of Pacific Aria and Sea Princess in Cairns?

Perhaps that was the post of the Aria bridge cam by Kiwi Kruzer

News about White Bay cruise terminal in SMH....Government has moved to rule out the installation of shore-to-ship power at White Bay in Sydney. The NSW committee recommended that the terminal be fitted to enable cruise ships to be powered from the shoreline when they were berthed but costs have been deemed too high.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/fuel-change-for-white-bay-cruises-would-cut-fumes-but-not-enough-for-government-20170714-gxbssw.html

Stratheden 1963 - Southern Cross 1965 - Northern Star 1966

Fairstar 1979

Pacific Sun 2005 August South Pacific

Pacific Sun 2007 September South Pacific

Pacific Dawn 2008 August South Pacific

Dawn Princess 2009 June Fiji

Pacific Sun 2009 August Darwin

Pacific Sun 2010 July South Pacific

Sun Princess 2011 January New Zealand

Sea Princess 2011 October New Zealand

Pacific Pearl 2012 April South Pacific

Sea Princess 2012 October-November Around Australia & New Zealand

Carnival Spirit 2013 May-June South Pacific

Sun Princess 2013 November-December New Zealand

Carnival Spirit 2014 August - South Pacific

Sun Princess 2015 January- February Fiji

Sun Princess 2015 April-Papua New Guinea

Dawn Princess 2015 Nov-Dec New Zealand

Sea Princess 2016 April-May Hawaii

Can I ask how many years you have been cruising?

 

The reason I ask this is because if you have been cruising for at least 15 years or more you may remember a time when there were shows of much better quality than we have today that was always part of the fare.

 

Cruising was never about segregation in the modern generation of ships where people pay extra for "good quality" only a fool would pay extra for good quality because it encourages cruise lines to take away products and services that were once part of the fare and then bring them back with an extra cost attached to them. To me this is an abomination. The reason we are seeing fees to see a show if because there is a sucker born every minute and P&O Australia know how to milk these fools of their money.

 

You say all of these options are just options and not compulsory. Well if you have that attitude one day you will go on a ship and spend the entire time in the cabin because you will find you have to pay to see all the shows, pay to see the movies, pay for all meals, pay for all entertainment. This may be the direction you want cruising to go, but I can assure you I do not want to see cruising go in that direction at all. Perhaps you will pay money to use a deck chair. After all a deck chair is not compulsory either and it is optional if you choose to lay down on them.

I agree P & O may find that a lot of their customers like cruising mainly because they pay there upfront fare and all those items which they feel should be part of the cruise are included.

Hopefully other lines will attract them away from P & O and they will realise extra charges are not the way to go.:)

Spot on.

 

As for being "good money", it's fine if you're young without dependants or expenses, but if you're in your 30s, trying to build a family it won't get you far on rent or mortgage costs in a big city. $34k pre-tax isn't much compared to the cost of living here.

 

That works out to about $2100/month after tax, or about $525/week. How much is rent? Dream on about having a mortgage... And then food, electricity, utilities, transport. Appliances? Going out/entertainment? And forget about cruising!

I just checked, the average monthly wage in the Philippines is $279.

I guess this is one reason they are happy to with $34k pre-tax.:):):)

Laughed at Jo's blog when she said you can do the ships tour at a nominal fee......unless it's been cut back i am sure I paid over $100 lol

On the previous cruise to Hawaii the ships tour was $175, might be nominal to some.:confused:

I tried to organise a galley or laundry tour for our Cruise Critic members but was told by the hotel manager they will no longer be able to offer this service as the ultimate tour is available.:)

However there was a general galley tour later in the cruise after a cooking demonstration.

It may also depend on many reasons. The crew and the CD mainly , some may not feel up to performing or the CD thinks they are not good enough. Not enough of them offering to perform. etc

I think you are spot on, I was always surprised that from the crew they could find so much talent.

In fact I have always been impressed with how they manage to put on all the other great shows while at sea.:):)

Thanks for the answers.

I thought perhaps they might be restricting them to longer cruises, but it appears to be the Cruise Director that makes the decision, although the line might not be encouraging them, due to reductions in staff.

Someone did mention to me why would you want the show, they always do the same thing, but perhaps that's what I like.

We did have the show on all our cruises since 2005, accept the last three.

We apparently have the same CD as the last cruise on our upcoming Hawaiian cruise, so I suppose we won't have the show, despite it being a long cruise.:rolleyes:

On the last three cruises with Princess there hasn't been the usual show where the crew do the entertaining, it was always fun with balloons amongst the audience at the start and if I was not upon the sea act towards the end by the entertainment staff.:)

Perhaps this is another saving, a pity if it is.:(

The P&O cruise on Pacific Jewel in July looks like a decent deal at the moment. Is it worth going in July? Is it warm enough to swim/snorkel? Are the pools on the ship heated so that the kids can swim on sea days? Pros and cons of going in July?

We went to Fiji in February and found it a bit too warm and humid for activities other than swimming and snorkelling.

We have been in the winter and found it warm enough for swimming and is better for other activities, it is also a bonus to sail into warmer weather and escape the cold in Sydney, the only downside is the first and last sea days are cold.

D/W here :)

Yes yes yes ......would love a surprise cruise. But please let me have two weeks notice to enjoy the anticipation and pack my own bag. So when are we going?

April the 10th:) on the Sea Princess.

That part would be easy for me the wonderful Mrs Gut never visits the site, the hard bit would be hiding the money from her.

I would love to surprise my D/W with a cruise, but I would also find it hard hiding the missing money, but the packing would be the really hard bit, she would notice at once if I was moving my clothes about, and it would be impossible to try packing hers. The only possible way I can see is to have a night away arranged that will turn into a cruise at the last minute.:)

It would be impossible to post about it, she would notice, even if I posted under a different name I think she would be suspicious.

Anyway I think a surprise cruise is a wonderful idea.

What surprises me is how can you post on this site about a surprise cruise and not have D/W or D/H notice it!!:confused:

I agree that the crew would have stricter controls than anyone else on board. Especially the kitchen staff and food handling crew members. After all, they're responsible for the welfare of the entire ship - passengers and crew.

 

However, the crew member supervising the hand sanitiser at entry points sometimes need to be more vigilant.

Perhaps some hand washing places other than the toilets near the food outlets might help as the sanitizer is only anti bacterial, not much help against the noro virus.

Every time I hear of one of these outbreaks I think if only people would wash their hands and use the sanitiser provided. It would help minimise the chances. I have on several occasions "prompted" people whilst standing in a queue to enter a dining facility to use the sanitiser :(

As the sanitizer does not help with the noro virus it can lead to people relying on it!! instead of other precautions such as washing hands properly immediately before eating and then not touching the food with your hands.:)

Isn't all this a bit over the top. I've caravanned from Sydney to Cairns a few times and never, repeat never had any issue with mosquitos. Yes of course you may see (hear) them. If you do buy some insect spray then, just as you would if you were having trouble with flies. Have a good trip.:)

agree, I have travelled around Australia by camper trailer and caravan, including the east coast and have never had a problem with mosquitos, once in a while there is an outbreak of something carried by mosquitos, but not often.

I would check with the locals, if there is a problem at the time of your visit and only use those chemicals on yourself if mosquitos are about and then not the spray variety, I guess I am lucky mosquitoes seldom bite me and I have never used a repellent.

We Aussies are inclined to be proud of this wonderful land including all our inhabitants!! but please don't be put off, once here you will realise there is little to really worry about and you will have a wonderful time.:)

Having staff serve all food wont make any difference. The staff can just as easily pass on infections if they are sick and they have motivation to work and not call in sick and pass their germs onto others.

 

If the attachment photo works then perhaps all the cruise experts can tell me what is wrong with it. I have attached a photo of a crew member on a food serving line with no gloves on with his hand touching his hair. How lovely to get a serving of knits with your meal. I am sure he did not wash his hair after last going to the bathroom.

 

Crew members are human too and are susceptible to mistakes, they are not superhuman. If they were they would not be working on cruise ships.

Yes better too be safe and serve yourself!!

There's no point getting knickers in a twist or stressing out if you see someone not using a sanitiser, it does NOTHING for Noro. Noro is a virus, the sanitisers are ok against bacteria but not viruses.

You just have to hope that they use the appropriate hand washing procedure, as we do, and just be happy with your own regimen.

We use the sanitisers when entering, and leaving, food areas more because it makes others feel better.

Some people are obsessed about bacteria and sanitise just about everything in their homes but overlook the fact that what they are doing is also killing off good bacteria as well as bad. We need good bacteria if we are to protect us from and build up our resistance to the bad.

Good point, do some people rely on the hand sanitizer and feel washing their hands properly, avoiding touching anything that has been touched by others, and not actually touching their own food isn't necessary?

Also is too much of the sanitizer for bacteria making your hands less resistant to the noro virus??

Perhaps there is an someone out there that really knows what is best, so far I have avoided all tummy bugs but is this just luck.

And remove all the handrails on the stairs and in the corridors.

7

And remove the lift buttons - the lifts would have to stop on every floor, imagine what the queues for the lifts would be like.

 

And remove the menus in the MDR too, have huge TVs all over the MDR displaying the menu. Oh, what about the chairs? Should diners stand to eat so they don't pass on Noro from touching the sides of the chairs?

 

Remove all the sunloungers, for the same reason as chairs.

 

And you'll have to stand in the bars, and hold your drinks, no tables allowed.

 

Close the theatres - can't have people putting their hands all over the seating there. That means trivia and bingo will have to go as well.

 

Close the casino too, all those hands on the slot machines, ugh.

 

:eek: :eek: :eek:

 

 

 

Exactly! But how can you teach people to be hygienic when they don't want to be taught. :rolleyes:

 

The only thing we can do, as individuals, is to ensure that we wash and sanitize as much as practicable.

I agree with you OzKiwiJJ

I believe colds and flu are the biggest problem to people who look after their own hygiene, it is hard to avoid people coughing and sneezing with little regard for people they are infecting.

I have cruised 20 times including early voyages and have never had noro, but have been very ill with colds towards the end of a cruise, or after the cruise.

I would certainly avoid a cruise line if the forced you into lines to be served.

I have avoided P & O since they announced their pantry system, although I am not sure how it works.

I've done a fair few sailings in school holidays and even then not seen an issue.

 

Sometimes a few kids are silly, but so what? Is it really that harmful to your holiday? I've encountered worse behaviour from people getting drunk onboard.

I agree, on the Carnival Spirit if it hadn't been for a 9 year old girl telling me not to be afraid I wouldn't have known the thrill of the Green Thunder.

We have cruised with P & O and Princess and have never had a problem with children, they have been well looked after by the staff in the children clubs, every now and then we would see them escorted by the staff to different venues.

We have also had 2 cruises with Carnival, not in school holidays but there were still over 500 children on board, too many for the staff to look after, so they were very evident around the ship, but they were so polite and well behaved it was a pleasure to see them, they were mostly younger children, it would be different in school holidays of course when I am told there can be over 1000, as they don't limit the numbers like P & O and Princess.

We are thinking of seeing all of Australia and the regular New Zealand ports in May or September. Has anyone gone there then and can tell me about the weather? We are in Florida but love the mountains and cool weather and don't want to travel in their summer.

Also, we have been on Holland America, NCL, Regent and mostly Celebrity. What cruise line have you enjoyed in Australia and New Zealand?

Also, have many of you done a B2B with Australia and, if so, where to?

Thanks.

Debbie

Florida

We cruised around Australia and New Zealand on the Sea Princess in October and November, (Sydney to Sydney) it was easily the best cruise we have had.

Hi. We would like to take our 14 and 12 year old grandchildren on a cruise out of Sydney, April-September2016. We thought Carnival line would have more for them to do. We are choosing not to go school holidays to avoid too many kids BUT will there still be enough for them to do on this cruise? They are quite mature for their ages. I would appreciate any advise thanks!

We were on the Carnival Spirit in mid term, but they still had over 600 children on board, they were very well behaved, mostly younger children, very few teenagers.

Carnival don't seem to organise as much for the children as Princess or P & O,

there are just too many, so they are much more in evidence around the ship, but there is plenty for them to enjoy including the Green Thunder, a nine year old girl told me not to be frightened so I had to try it, I expect your grandchildren will make sure you enjoy the experience.

I'm sure you will have a great time, even the evening meal can be great fun especially with children.:)

We'd like some suggestions for Tauranga. They seem to offer a lot of kayaking tours in the area, but hubby isn't interested. Has anyone done the Hobbiton tour? Viator has one, but we're not really fans of the movie, but love beautiful scenery. Are there local tours available when the ship docks? Is there anything to see from the port? Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

A walk around Mount Maunganui which you will see on entering the harbour is something not to be missed and if you feel fit enough the climb to the top is also worth it. The beach is also nice with a land projection for more views, there is also a hill to climb between the dock and beach.

Maunganui also has a good tourist shopping area.

Does anyone know if Princess compensate for missed ports or is it just bad luck. I have family on the Diamond

Yes we got 93 cents for missing Noumea and Lifou on the Dawn Princess, June 2009, I believe the compensation was just for Noumea.

It had to be used on a future cruise by a certain date so some people missed out, but we booked a cruise on the Sun Princess in time.:):):)